Interview with Mikkel Mainz (SKJALD Animation)

In this week’s blog, Fantasy/Animation sat down with Mikkel Mainz of SKJALD Animation studio, a full-pipeline creative house and animation studio located in Denmark, to discuss its experience working on successful web series and feature films, the interpretation of music through animated style, and SKJALD’s future animated projects.

Q1. Can you tell us a little about the origins of the SKJALD Animation studio, and the kinds of projects it works on?

SKJALD is a full-pipeline creative house located in Denmark that I oversee as Director. I created this studio after leaving Sun Creature studio to focus on directing and creating original projects and films. At Skjald I primarily focus on the creation of 2D short films, series, and feature films characterized by an artistic and edgy approach. Our mission is to give audiences captivating experiences through high-quality, unconventional, and exciting storytelling through music, animated content, and games. Alongside production we support projects with storyboards, layouts, and compositions. SKJALD’s most famous project is Tales of Alethrion, a music driven fantasy series without dialogue. Other previous projects include Skunk, Align, Monster Loving Maniacs, and most recently an exciting collaboration with Ray Incident. We have many more animated films and projects in the pipeline so stay tuned! I share most of our projects on Tales of Alethrion’s Youtube channel and Instagram account, and we update the website Skjaldcreative.com as we come out with new projects. We have been able to make a lot of cool films thanks to our Tales of Alethrion patrons and Kickstarter backers. A big thing I have directed lately is 26 episodes of a series called Høj about Nordic Mythology, whichis airing on TV in Denmark this year.

SKJALD’s dark fantasy animations.

Q2. Did you always know you wanted to get involved with animation?

I have always known that I would be making animated films since I was a small child. I simply found the medium magical and exciting and didn’t understand why adults (in my childhood) thought live-action films were more acceptable to watch. I knew I wanted to bring visual stories to the screen, but I started with doing graphic novels, illustrations, and comics. I have a Bachelor’s degree in character animation and an Animation Sans Frontiers Diploma in co-producing, pitching and directing. During my time studying, I was also teaching younger students about animation and media. I founded SKJALD in 2019 but before that I created Sun Creature, which is where we created Tales of Alethrion, and also worked on the Oscar nominated Flee, Cartoon Network’s Ivandoe, and Song of the Sea (Tomm Moore, 2014). Alongside web series we also enjoy creating animations for music videos as you can see through our dark fantasy animation (see above).

Track 33: Fanfare Incidence.

Q3. What can you tell us about your new fantasy animation project and collaboration with Ray Incident? 

Our latest project is a collaboration with Ray Incident on their most recent album Incidence. This album is rooted in the Surrealists' revolutionary spirit and cultural vibrancy, so we wanted to pay homage to epic fantasy, which is a type of animation that was mostly present in 1980s experimental cartoons which was a transformative era. The team worked on Track 33: Fanfare Incidence (see right) which was the opening track to the album. The album is a musical manifesto, calling for a rebellion against rationalism and embracing of the irrational, so we worked on creating visuals that would pair well with the music. I knew Maria (Tarp) would be a great artist to put on this project to design this dark and magical world. I also knew I wanted Vela (Klitgard) on to support her designs with interesting editing and moods. They worked super hard on this project. Viggo Uno and Svanna Christiansen are amazing animators who can catch the life of animals in their animations. The pencil textures and art forms were carefully chosen after animation tests and research, and it had to fit with the music. I am very pleased with the final result of this film, and the collaboration with Ray, and of course the amazing team and artists who specialise in hand drawn art and 2D animation, and who were all educated at The Animation Workshop in Denmark.

Fig. 1 - Track 33: Incident Fanfare.

Q4. Can you tell us a bit about the production of the music video? What sort of programmes/software did you use to transfer sound into image?

The music from Track 33: Incident Fanfare certainly played out well into the music video, allowing us to echo the messages from the track into the visuals. We mainly used four different types of software that allowed us to hand draw and use a traditional frame by frame technique. TVpaint was used as the animation software as it allowed us to create layers like the cel animators did last century without computer, but with new and cool features that make our lives easier. We used After Effects as our compositing software and Photoshop for backgrounds and designs. Some of the animations were done in Photoshop too instead of TVpaint if the techniques used were heavy on textures and details. We used Adobe Premiere to put it all together in an animatic and update shots in each step of the production. It was also here we timed to the music and did the trimming at the end to create the final cut.

Q5. The short clearly draws inspiration from more experimental animated forms, reaching as far back as the visual music traditions of the 1920s and 1930s? From where did you draw your stylistic and thematic influences for the project?

We wanted slow artsy and spacy vibes in the Arthurian artstyle. We looked at animated films from all over the world and history, such as The Snow Queen (Lev Atamanov, 1957), which had very interesting techniques and atmospheres. We also looked at illustrations from the medieval times, especially for strange symbols and texts. Films like Nosferatu (F.W. Murnau, 1922) mixed with more modern music videos like Lorn’s Anvil (2015), and even Moebius. The list is long, as research, design, and pre-production is a big part of creating a film like this.

Fig. 2 - Track 33: Incident Fanfare.

Fig. 3 - Track 33: Incident Fanfare.

Fig. 4 - Track 33: Incident Fanfare.

Q6. What creative affordances does animation as a medium offer? Do you think it is well-suited to musical expression?

Animation is incredibly well-suited to musical expression and that is evident in the work that was created for Ray’s latest album (Figs. 1-4). Alongside SKJALD there are 2 other animators, Jacob Varley and Robert Morgan, who work incredibly well with the music. Each artist interprets the music differently and this is showcased through the work that has been produced. The latest album from Ray takes the listener on a journey from Track 33: Fanfare Incidence, which starts the inspiring sonic journey to Track 40: Incidence Finale. This journey mirrors the spirit of the artistic movement which is reflective in the artwork produced. I always prioritize music in my projects, and I believe that a film’s story is felt both through the eyes and the ears.

Q7. What's next for SKJALD? Given the etymology of your name ('skjald' is the Old Norse word for "bard") there other kinds of stories you want to tell using the animated form?

I have made and directed several projects and want to continue making story experiences on different platforms such as original projects such as 2D films, webcomics and graphic novels, YouTube and live streaming, roleplaying books, illustrations, etc. With each project I’d like to think out of the box and find the best experience for the community and audience. Helping develop the next generation of animators is important to me, so when I’m not making films or projects, I’m teaching at The Animation Workshop or other schools in animation, design, story and so on. I want to be a part of improving and making the animation industry a nice and cool place to be. Skjald is such an epic and cool place to work and I am very proud of what I have build and the stories we have told so far. Truly the journey is the reward and I am proud of my team and what are able do. We are on an interesting journey and at the moment, as we are working on the television series Høj and of course Tales of Alethrion (that one will be continuing until I am an old man!), but we also have “The Floating World”, “Gone Badminton”, “Spirit Seeker”, and other feature films and projects in the pipeline. I always prioritise and want original and artistic project to be produced. We have recently upgraded Skjald to a bigger set up called Skjaldborn, where I have teamed up with producer Edith, and we aim to keep creativity and interesting projects coming.

**Article published: February 23, 2024**